About Me

Hi, my name is Jill. After getting divorced several years ago, I have to admit that I was intimidated by the idea of taking care of my home by myself, and certain issues such as plumbing seemed to intimidate me the most. However, through the years, I have learned how to diagnose, troubleshoot and hack a range of issues. In this blog, I am going to share everything I know as well as a few tips from the pros. If you are a new homeowner or someone who is new to the world of do-it-yourself projects, you have come to the right place. Please, pull up a seat and start exploring my blog. Before you know it you will be able to grab the plunger and perform plumbing hacks on your own.

The winter months can cause a great deal of wear and tear to the exterior of your home, as well as to your landscape, but the freezing weather can even cause damage within your home. Your plumbing can be subjected to burst pipes and major leaks if the water inside your pipes manages to freeze, since water will expand when it turns to ice. Luckily, there are a number of things that you can do to help ensure that your plumbing stays in good condition until the warm weather finally returns.

Plumbing Insulation

The easiest and one of the most effective things that you can do to ensure that the water in your pipes stays flowing is to install plumbing insulation around all exposed piping, especially pipes that run against an exterior wall of your home. This will keep the water within your plumbing at a moderate temperature and prevent freezing from occurring. This insulation can be found at most hardware stores, and can be easily installed yourself by simply cutting it to size and sliding it in place. Most insulation will have adhesive on the inside, though for cheaper variants you may have to use plumber's tape to hold it in place.

Constant Running

During periods of severe cold snaps, especially if you believe that you are going to be away for a few days, you can turn taps that are near the exterior of your home on slightly. A slow drip will keep the water in your pipes moving, which makes it much harder for that water to freeze and cause damage to your plumbing. Keep in mind that this will increase your utility bills, but for a short period it is a good stopgap measure to protect your home against winter water damage.

Space Heaters

Another fairly simple thing that you can do to prevent pipes from bursting from freezing temperatures is to install a space heater in a particularly at-risk area. Normally, this will either be an area where you have had to deal with frozen pipes in the past, which will be more common up against an exterior wall of your home – and colder rooms, like in the basement, are also at particular risk. Again, this does represent an added energy cost each month, but it is well worth the savings that you will get by avoiding a massive water damage remediation bill down the line.